Posted: Sun Jun 14, 2009 10:04 am Post subject: Upper Fish Fork 6/13/2009
I have often wanted to do this trip and Saturday 6/13/2009 was finally the day!
I spent the night at Lupine Cpgd, surprising there where other campers there. Though not the usual rowdies that frequent the backcountry camps but families with small children ! Wow !
Must be the economy....
My friend Andrew met me at the appointed 7am-ish at the trailhead and we where off.
The old road grade is not difficult to follow nor is it badly overgrown, though the occasional down tree is a pain.
We made Pine Mtn Ridge in short order and the junction of Fish Fork Trail was just minuets ahead.
Great Views of Iron Mtn and Mt Badly where to be had from our vantage point... Along the trail some landslide activity has erased the trail making for a bit of a sketchy traverse over the scree but caution wins the day, there is lots of evidence of Big Horn Sheep here, with scat and urine galore!
The bears are quite active here too with lots of scat, overturned rocks and old snags torn apart.
Past the scree area the trail becomes more faint and the GPS was consulted on several occasions to ensure we where on the trail and not one of the many game trails that crisscross the area.
Despite no maintenance or foot traffic the trail is relatively easy to follow, at least until we got to the trail down to fish fork.
Here it looked as though the trail is a trail that was... We started down the creek scrambling over and under the pick up stick jumble of down alder trees, rocks, boulders, and patches of brambles until we spotted the trail up on the side of the canyon right where it should be! DUH!
It is mostly intact but can be a bit unnerving places but we made Upper Fish Fork trail camp by 10:30am... Didn't look like anybody had been here in quite some time.
Lots of water flowing here nice spot to be sure.
The trip back was mostly uneventful, I was hoping to spot some critters but didn't see a one.
We made it back to the trailhead by 3pm making for a leisurely 8hr day
My GPS indicated 8.4 miles but that seems low. Analysis of the track indicates 10.8-ish miles
Anywho it is a nice trip and I recommended it highly
Cheers
Matt _________________ So many canyons...So little time
"You can't fix stupid" Ron White
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary." James Madison
"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." James Madison
In their infinite wisdom the road to Cabin Flat appears to be closed permanently.
Matt
_________________ So many canyons...So little time
"You can't fix stupid" Ron White
"If men were angels, no government would be necessary." James Madison
"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare." James Madison
Great pics! That whole area looks nice and wild. Definitely a well fed resident bruin or two!
Ze, if you plan a trip there let me know - I'll do the same. I want to see this place too. My activity calendar is pretty booked, but there are a couple of weekend days in July I don't have anything going on. If the weather stays nice, we should go! _________________ http://www.cougarmagic.com
I might be able to end of July (I never have anything concrete until the last minute!). have to figure out what hike to do. I'm going to try to resist to climb Wright, Pine, Dawson, & Baldy....I would like to check out Stanley Miller mine and backpack for one night, but I don't know how feasible it is to hike down Fish Fork to East Fork. I would like to spend some time in that area. _________________ http://socalhikes.com/
Matt:
"Upper" Fish Fork is the camp just above the waterfall, yes?
Wish I could remember what it was like there when I was there in the 60's, but alas that's too long ago.
I do remember what it was like in the 80's. Back then, you could still drive up to Pine Mtn Ridge if you had good clearance. I don't think you needed to have a 4x4; just good clearance. The trail down to the trail camps was clear and well maintained. The camps were primitive (not at all like Cooper Canyon, Little Jimmy, and the like), but the tent sites were seeing regular use.
There was a trail going up the west flanks of Dawson, but I think that trail is pretty much gone now. I remember hiking that trail as a kid.
Zé:Because of the waterfall I mentioned (and others downstream), I don't think you can go down Fish Fork to the East Fork -- unless you want to do technical canyoneering.
HJ _________________ Hiking? Aw, gee, do I have to?
Matt:
"Upper" Fish Fork is the camp just above the waterfall, yes?
Ah no....
See the photos they are geotagged. As the crow flies the falls shown on the map are 2 miles. Another 2 miles straight line to Fish Fork Cpgd.
Have you ever seen any photos of the falls?
Cheers
Matt
O.K, I'm obviously not saying that right. If you go to Little Fish Fork, that's the uppermost trailcamp and the first that you come to. If you go downstream you come to Upper Fish Fork camp. Even though it's "upper," it's lower than the first trail camp. If you go downstream another half a mile (mile?) from Upper Fish Fork camp, there is a waterfall that blocks all further non-technical progress. That's what I mean by "closest to the waterfall." There are more water falls further downstream I've been told, but I've never been in that section of the canyon. I'm definitely NOT talking about the falls shown on the topo map.
The only view of the waterfall below Upper Fish Fork that I've seen is from the top. I crawled out on my belly as far as I could go and peered over the edge. I could see the water shooting over the edge and out into thin air, but I couldn't see very much. To have crawled any further would have been suicide. There was cool air shooting up the falls on the day I was there. Neat experience.
I'd love to see some pics if you've got 'em.
Did you take a look at the trail to Dawson Pk at all? Good to know the sign post is there at least, but I'm wondering if it's much of a trail anymore.
HJ _________________ Hiking? Aw, gee, do I have to?
I wasn't aware of the falls near Upper Fish Fork Camp
I knew very little of what to expect, except what was shown on the maps
These camps are not labeled on the maps
As to the trail to Dawson Pk I'd expect it to be in similar condition, faint but "easy" to follow
It may not be obvious to some I suppose and like a forest superhighway to others...A matter of perspective and subjective analysis
Nobody has been out there in years since the fires closed the road to Prairie Fork and they weren't used much before the fires would be my guess
So there will likely be some spots where you gotta look for the correct route
There are a couple trees blocking the trail as you might expect though a bow saw would make short work of the worst of it, a bit of selective lopper work would make a few spots safer to traverse
OK, yes, Upper Fish Fork is the camp I described as "closest to the waterfall." I went down stream from there into the narrows until I could go no further. The canyon necked down to a relatively narrow "U" shape with water pouring over the lip of the "U." I crawled on my belly as far as I could. I could see that the bottom was a ways down, but I couldn't see the face of the falls. Perhaps what I'm calling a waterfall is what Robinson describes as the narrows? It sure seemed like a falls to me.
Hmm. Now you've gotten me really curious. I've been meaning to get back out to that area, and I've been wanting to do what I call a "quick overnighter" (go up Friday night after work, camp out, return the following day). Maybe that's my spot.
I saw your pictures of the two trail camps. What's your general impression? Could two or three one-man tents be set up for the night there in either of the two camps with out too much "site prep?" We'd be coming up after work, so daylight would be limited. Moving a few rocks would be no big deal, but if we have to clear brush and do some shovel work, that probably wouldn't work.
How long was your drive from La Cañada to the trailhead (assuming you took the ACH)? Was it about two hours one-way?
Thanks in advance for any info you might be able to give me,
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